


Parenthood

by LineSofie



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 14:52:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2432783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LineSofie/pseuds/LineSofie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>April´s thoughts on having kids with Andy</p>
            </blockquote>





	Parenthood

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my first ever Parks and Rec fan fiction - please tell me what you think :D

The first time she really gives it a thought is after Leslie and Ben announces that they are expecting triplets. At first she can´t help but thank whatever there is to thank that she is not the one who has to go through that – she remembers very vividly how Ann was and she does not really want to experience that first hand.

 

Later, she thinks that maybe, just maybe, the discomfort might be worth it. She has seen Ron with John on several occasions, and even though Ron tries to hide it, she knows that that little boy changed Ron more than anyone thought possible.

Maybe a baby would be nice.

 

She quickly shakes off the thoughts and tells herself that she is 25 and Andy is 33 and they are still relatively young. They don´t need to make any decisions now.

 

 

…

 

 

The first time they talk about it, they are sitting on the couch in their underwear, April wearing one of Andy´s t-shirts that practically drowns her, playing a videogame.

She is not even entirely sure where it comes from, so naturally, it takes her by surprise when Andy suddenly pauses the game and turns to look at her. When she looks up at him, searching for an explanation as to why he would do something so not-Andy-like as to stop a game, his eyes are sincere and serious – something that she does not see very often, well, the serious part at least.

 

“I want us to have a baby.” His facial expression goes from looking serious to goofy with a grin on his lips. She doesn´t know how to react so she stares dumbfounded at him.

 

She figured a long time ago that Andy wanted kids. At first it was just something that she assumed but then he had shown her his bucket list and it was no longer just a suspicion. There on the handwritten note, carelessly scribbled on crumbled paper: “ _Have a son_ ”.

She remembers the way her heart seemed to skip a beat as her eyes scanned over the words, but she pretended to just ignore it and looked at Andy to see if he had noticed. He hadn´t and she thanked his obliviousness at times like that.

 

She should have known it was coming and she should have known by now that Andy is not the kind of person to ease into a subject. He would be all too excited to care about being subtle.

 

“Andy…” she starts, but she still hasn´t decided what words should follow so she quiets again and looks anywhere but at his eyes. She knows without looking that his grin is no longer there because, yes, Andy can be oblivious, but he knows her and he knows what she sounds like before she´s about to let him down.

 

He doesn´t say anything and waits patiently for her to gather her thoughts and finish what she is saying.

 

“Andy, a baby…” she stops again and breathes. “A baby is a huge deal. They depend on you and…”

She smiles without humor and shakes her head. “You know I hate being an adult about stuff, but look around you, Andy.”

 

Still refusing to meet his eyes, she knows she is only making things worse. She knows that her husband´s heart is in the right place, and, if she´s being honest, a baby, a small version of them, would be awesome. Still, she cannot for the life of her let go of the voice that tells her that it would be a mistake.

 

“What am I looking at exactly?” he questions innocently and she can almost hear the pain in his voice that she knows is in his eyes.

 

“Our life, Andy!” she exclaims a little harsher than she means for it to be. “We live in a mess. We barely have enough money as it is!”

 

She takes a deep breath and finally meets his eyes. Trying to somehow save the situation from escalating into one of those fights that she absolutely loathes, she takes his large hands in both of her small ones.

 

He sighs and nods. She thinks for a moment that he has let it go, but then his face changes and he lets go of her hands.

 

“We have a house. We both have a job and we can get the money. I´ll buy less stupid stuff…” Now it is his turn to trail off without finishing his sentence. He looks her deep in the eyes and she almost expects him to kiss her or something. He doesn´t. 

 

“Do you want a baby?” he finally asks and she feels her breath hitch in her throat. For a short moment she can´t breathe and she can´t look away. The question is so direct and sudden even though it´s exactly what they have been talking about for the last ten minutes.

 

Finally she coughs and looks away. “What?”

 

“I said, do you want a baby?” the words sound different now, less intense, like Andy legitimately doesn´t think she heard him the first time even though she is sitting mere feet away from him.

 

“I…”

 

Does she want a baby? She thinks about it for a moment. She never really believed that having kids was her thing. They are loud and messy and annoying and _no thank you_.

 

That was before she met Andy.

 

Now, she thinks that having a baby can´t really be that bad an idea. Who wouldn´t want to have a mini Andy? She knows beyond a doubt that Andy is going to be an awesome dad because he´s an awesome husband. Yes, he has his flaws and he can be oblivious and childish, but she knows that when it really matters, he´ll step up and be exactly what she needs.

 

She wants to tell him that she wants kids with him but she doesn´t. She doesn´t say anything, mostly because she is scared. Babies are permanent. They are not something that you can just take back. Sometimes she finds herself wondering if they made a mistake by getting married before they even dated a full month but then she looks at Andy´s goofy smile and she´s okay again. She never wants to feel that way about a kid. She doesn´t want to wake up one day regretting it and maybe it´s because she is terrified out of her mind, but she cannot possibly be a good parent. She´s selfish and annoyed most of the time. Leslie is cut out to be a mother but not her.

 

 

…

 

 

Andy doesn´t bring it up again. He assumes that since he never got a real answer that she simply doesn´t want kids and that´s okay. He´s upset at first because he really thinks that having a baby with April is the most awesome thing that could happen to them, but he loves April and he would rather have her and no baby than a baby and no April.

Besides, they have water fights inside and do whatever they want and he tells himself that that is enough.

 

 

…

 

 

She doesn´t notice it at first and neither does he, really. She doesn´t really get sick at all. There are mornings where she wakes up and wants to vomit the second she sits up but it´s gone as soon as she takes a few breaths and Andy never notices because he always sleeps longer than she does.

 

She tells herself that it´s nothing because let´s face it, she never really eats that much nutritious foods and her body is probably just telling her that it´s had enough. Yeah, that must be it.

 

 

…

 

 

Leslie is the first to say anything about it, being awfully perceptive even though she has three 3-year-olds.

 

In the new office on the third floor of Pawnee City Hall, April has been sulking over her desk the entire day. She mutters something unintelligible, that´s meant to mean that she wants to go home, to whoever bothers to talk to her.

 

Leslie is way too cheerful when she approaches April and even though April does her best to scowl and scare her away, Leslie doesn´t even flinch. She hands April a piece of paper and tells her it needs to be sent somewhere else in the building.

She has changed a lot, as has her work, since she started as an intern in the Parks and Recreation Department and now she finds that she actually enjoys parts of her work. Normally, she would nod and write down where it was meant to go but for some reason, she just can´t muster the energy.

 

The blonde is about to leave when she stops and seems to consider something. She then turns back to April and has this sincere look about her that tells April that she is definitely _not_ going to like what comes next. It is going to be sappy for sure.

 

“Are you alright?” she asks and April is about to tell her what she usually would – that she is fine and scowl until Leslie leaves her alone with her thoughts. For whatever misguided reason, today she decides for the first time in a long time to confide in her boss.

 

“I´m just tired. Andy kept me up with his snoring all night,” she tells her. It´s partially true. Andy was snoring all night, but the reason she didn´t sleep isn´t because of that. If she had wanted to sleep, not even Andy´s snoring could have kept her up. She´s used to it by now.

 

April doesn´t even know why she didn´t sleep. She felt queasy since dinner and just decided that it was the food´s fault. She doesn´t want to tell this to Leslie, and she doesn´t know why that is either. Perhaps she´s just used to lying whenever it gets too personal and push people away.

 

Leslie considers her answer for a moment and lets it go. She doesn´t tell April that she can go home because she knows that if April wants to, she would just go home anyway or sleep over her desk.

 

 

…

 

 

Leslie comes back later that day. April knew that she would because she´s been watching as Leslie paced the floor of her office for quite a while. Leslie opens and closes her mouth a few times before she finally says what´s on her mind. April likes to think that her glare had something to do with it.

 

“Are you pregnant?” the question takes her by surprise but she doesn´t let it show. She cocks an eyebrow and looks incredulously at her boss.

 

She doesn´t think she ever gives an answer; she just stares at Leslie until she walks away. She knows that Leslie only asks because she cares and a part of her wants to acknowledge the warm feeling she gets at knowing that.

 

Even though Leslie leaves, she still gets a few glances from her coworkers and she can see that Leslie doesn´t actually go back to work right away.

 

She tries to focus at her work in front of her and hopes that the others will leave her alone.

 

 

…

 

 

For some reason, Leslie´s words stay with her for the rest of the day. In the car on the way home, sitting beside Andy as they carpool as usual, she´s awfully quiet. It´s not as if they usually talk much in the car, but she still normally answers him with more than just a nod and a sound that´s supposed to mean “yes” when he asks if she´s okay.

 

She knows that he´s biting back some comment but she quickly forgets and loses herself to her thoughts again.

 

She wonders silently if Leslie is right. She knows that she´s been stubborn and played off symptoms as something else, but now she questions if she was right. She doesn´t actually know if it´s a good thing or a bad thing and she still hasn´t figured it out when Andy parks the car in their driveway. He stops the engine and turns to her.

 

They speak at the same time.

“Are you coming inside?” and “I think I´m pregnant.”

 

She doesn´t know why she says it exactly. The last thing she wants is for Andy to get his hopes up if it turns out that she´s wrong.

 

They both remain quiet for a moment, April waiting for some kind of response from Andy who´s still trying to process her words.

 

The corner of his mouth twitches for a bit as if he´s wondering if it´s alright to smile, but then he seems to let go of everything and a brighter smile than she´s ever seen spreads on his face. She cannot help but smile back because, dammit, Andy can always make her smile even when she´s as terrified as she is now.

 

“Baby, that´s awesome!” he exclaims loudly, reaching over the middle and pressing her to his chest in a somewhat uncomfortable embrace. She tries to ignore it at first, wanting to relish in the feeling of his warmth and happiness, but then it´s starting to become a little painful and she has to pull away.

 

 

…

 

 

Andy is practically jumping up and down excitedly like a little kid in the doctor´s office the following week. She doesn´t tell him to sit down like she usually would, she´s too preoccupied with her nerves. She doesn´t register it when her legs shake and her hands tap on her lap. She´s staring right ahead at the clock on the wall where time ticks by way too slow and all too fast at the same time.

 

She´s shaken back to reality when Andy places his hands on her shoulder and looks at her expectantly. Only then does she realize that a nurse called her name already.

 

Her legs are unsteady as she stands and she leans on Andy more than she´s likely to admit to anyone.

 

The nurse leads them back to a room where she smiles way too brightly at them and tells April to sit on the table/bed thing that she never really learned the name of. She just nods and sits down and waits the few minutes the nurse said it would take for the doctor to get to them.

 

She´s fiddling with her fingers and Andy is looking at pictures of the female reproductive system and no doubt making inappropriate comments that April doesn´t hear. Maybe he notices how quiet she´s being, maybe he doesn´t, either way, he is at her side when the doctor comes in. She takes his hand and gives it a squeeze as the doctor presents himself as Dr. Saperstein.

 

April instantly decides that she doesn´t like him but it´s not like she has much of a choice. Pawnee is a small town and there is only one obstetrician.

 

She´s seen enough movies and whatever that she expects him to tell her to lie back and put some sort of weird cold gel on her flat stomach. He doesn´t.

 

Instead, he hands her a cup and tells her to fill it in the communal bathroom down the hall. April is sure that she spends almost a minute staring back and forth between the stupid cup in her hand and the doctor as if she expects him to break out into a smile and tell her that he´s joking.

 

 

…

 

 

They are told that they´ll have the result the following day and that the hospital will call them. Andy keeps telling her about all the cool stuff they get to do when their baby comes and she tries to tell him that it´s not even certain that she´s pregnant. He decides to ignore it and she´s never seen him this eager – not even about Mouse Rat or their wedding.

 

 

…

 

 

The hours go by way too slow. She can barely sleep that night and is tired the next day. She doesn´t understand how Andy can keep calm. He´s cracking jokes and talking about all sorts of things and she can´t even get over how terrified she is.

 

Several times that day she picks up her phone at the office with much more enthusiasm than she usually does and several times she is disappointed to find that it´s just some stupid person with a stupid complaint.

 

She goes through the motions and jumps every time a phone rings, even when it´s not her own, and she knows that people are starting to stare at her. She doesn´t give a damn.

 

 

…

 

 

It´s just after lunch and the seventh time that day that her phone rings when the hospital calls. Dr. Saperstein sounds just as annoying as he did in person the previous day, but the sound of his voice still makes her heart pound impossibly faster in her chest.

 

“Mrs. Ludgate-Dwyer? We have your test results.”

 

She has to swallow thickly before she can speak.

 

“And?”

 

“And you are pregnant. My guess is between 6 to 8 weeks but we´ll know more during your next visit…”

 

He goes on about making a new appointment for a sonogram but she can´t answer. She thinks she might be hyperventilating but no one around her reacts so she assumes that it´s just her.

 

She stops listening and hangs up before he´s even done speaking. She knows that it´s rude but it´s not like she likes the guy anyway.

 

She doesn´t move for a few moments and then suddenly all senses return to her and she makes a run for it, escaping the building in a fashion that probably makes a few people look her way. She never notices if they do. All she can think about is finding Andy.

 

She is out of breath when she reaches the car and she hesitates for a while in the drivers seat before she turns on the engine. She curses a bit that Andy has the day off and is therefore nowhere near City Hall. The drive home seems to take too long and never ending.

 

 

…

 

 

Cutting off the engine once the car is parked in the driveway of their small home, April hesitates. There are no sounds around her other than her own ragged breathing and she tries to breathe deeply to calm herself down.

 

She tells herself several times to just get out of the car but she can´t move and she can´t think of anything other than Andy and their baby. Their baby. They are seriously going to have a baby. There is a living human being inside of her and that thought kind of creeps her out a bit.

 

If she is being honest, she expected that she would feel different – the movies all said that she´d be camped by the toilet, throwing up her guts by now, but she doesn´t feel anything. Sure, she´s tired but she´s always kind of tired because she and Andy tend to stay up later than they should even though they have work the next day.

 

She wonders for a short moment when she would have figured it out if Leslie hadn´t said anything and then she feels an inexplicable guilt because what kind of mother doesn´t notice that she´s pregnant?

 

April quickly opens the car and steps out. She needs something to distract her from thinking self destructively and the one person who always succeeds in doing so is Andy.

 

Her steps are slow and casual at first but then she picks up speed and by the time she reaches the front door, she´s practically running into the living room where she figures Andy will be. She´s right. He´s camped in front of the TV in his underwear, playing some video game that April doesn´t remember the name of, and looks up when he hears or sees her – whichever comes first.

 

She is gasping embarrassingly for breath as Andy throws the remote controller away and walks to her. He doesn´t even bother to pause the game first and in seconds April can see the words “Game Over” blinking on the screen behind him. He doesn´t seem to care which honestly surprises her a bit and she thinks that maybe they really _can_ be adults about this and be good parents.

It´s foolish of course to assume this just because he intentionally dies in a video game but still, it´s a step in the right direction and for April, it all counts.

 

It takes her longer than necessary to realize that he is talking to her and she has to force herself to look away from the TV screen and focus her attention on him.

 

“Are you okay?” he asks sounding worried and April cannot help but smile at the sincerity of it.

 

“I´m pregnant,” she says, not really answering his question but Andy forgets. He grins wide and laughs and holds his hand out for her to high five. She does without a second thought because it´s such an Andy thing to do.

 

“I´m gonna be a dad!” he exclaims and by now she has tears in her eyes because she always wants to remember how it feels to be the one to cause that excitement in him. She doesn´t bother to blink them away and laughs while her cheeks are stained with wet patches. For a moment she thinks that he´s going to pick her up and spin her around like he did back when he thought Diane´s pregnancy test was hers, but he doesn´t. He does however jump around her hug her close and then gives her a look full of worry.

 

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you? Did I hurt the baby?” he sounds almost panicky but April just shakes her head and laughs a bit.

 

“No, I´m fine, we´re fine.”

 

 

…

 

 

It takes only a few days before Andy has trouble to keep it a secret. April tells him to wait a bit, at least until after the sonogram and he reluctantly agrees. She doesn´t tell him that there is still a chance that there won´t be a heartbeat or that something´s wrong even though that is practically all she can think about all day.

 

 

…

 

 

It´s a strange feeling at first, having that wand thingy on her stomach and listening to a thudding sound they´re told is their baby´s heartbeat. She breathes a sigh of relief, letting go of a breath she wasn´t even aware that she was holding.

 

She can´t really make out anything on the screen and she wonders if Andy can. He nods and seems to understand everything that the doctor is saying, but he could just be pretending.

 

All she sees is a blur of grey and white with a small black spot in the middle that Dr. Saperstein tells them is the sack in which their baby grows. She can´t really believe it. It is all so surreal. Their baby is growing inside of her and that strange thud that keeps beating steadily makes it all the more real.

 

Dr. Saperstein tells them that the baby is healthy and it´s all April could wish for.

 

 

…

 

 

Andy instantly begs her to let him tell their friends the moment they get back in their car to go home from the doctors appointment. She wants to be annoyed with him but she wants to tell them too.

 

Technically, they are allowed to tell people immediately, especially since Dr. Saperstein says the baby´s fine, but she still hesitates. She thinks she remembers being told at some point that the risk of miscarriage is higher in the first twelve weeks so she hesitates. She doesn´t want to somehow jinx it or something or get too excited too fast because for some reason she tells herself that if anyone´s going to have a miscarriage, it´s her.

 

So she begs Andy to wait the four weeks it´ll take before she hits the twelve week mark and while he tells her that he will, she still wonders if he´s going to slip up.

 

 

…

 

 

Either Andy manages to actually keep it a secret or their friends are really good at acting surprised when they finally do tell them a month later. Andy can barely contain his excitement as he asks their friends to gather around them. He has an arm around her waist, pulling her close against him.

 

“Guys, April and I have something we´d like to say.” He sounds awfully formal compared to his usual way of speaking and it´s enough to get the attention of their friends. He smiles at her before he continues.

 

“We´re gonna have a baby!” he announces proudly and April can´t help but wrap both of her arms around him and stands as close to him as she possibly can.

 

“I knew it!” Leslie exclaims and claps her hands together. “I´m so happy for you!”

 

April doesn´t even try to push her away when Leslie goes to hug both of them. In that moment she feels happier than she has in a long time and she doesn´t want anything to spoil it.

 

The others make cheerful sounds as well and, even though April counts them as her friends, her eyes still lock on Ron´s and searches for a sign of approval in them. She blinks back tears when she sees how Ron´s mouth twitches a bit in the corners and he sends her a small smile. It´s all the approval she needs. Ron is like a father to her, who, unlike her own father, knows why she acts the way she does most of the time.

 

 

…

 

 

“Can we please name him Jack?” Andy asks one day. It comes out of nowhere and April is confused for a moment.

 

“Andy, we still have 5 months to go, we don´t need to find a name yet,” she tells him when she catches on to what he is talking about.

 

“Yes, I know that but, April, Jack is an awesome name and our kid will be awesome so it´s perfect!” he is so eager and somehow she knows that this is something he has actually thought about for a while. She smiles and can´t bring herself to tell him no, besides, Jack is kind of an awesome name.

 

“We don´t even know that it´s a boy,” she finally points out, a smile still playing on her lips.

 

Andy makes his way to her, sitting beside her on the couch. “But you think it´s a boy, you said so yourself,” he points out and April can´t stop herself from leaning over and kissing him. When she pulls back seconds later, she takes his hand.

 

“Well, when have I ever been right about stuff?”

 

Andy just shakes his head and pulls her close to him so her head and snuggled to his chest and she doesn´t want to move ever again.

 

 

…

 

 

She never really feels that much different until she grows out of her clothes. That´s when the hormones really start to set in and she´s never cried as much in her life. She hates that she can´t control it. She yells at Andy for the smallest of things and then she cries because she feels guilty.

 

At the time she thinks it´s the worst thing she has ever been through and she curses the evil spawn inside of her, but she still finds herself caressing the slight swell on her stomach when no one is looking.

 

 

…

 

 

Dr. Saperstein asks them at their next appointment if they want to know the sex of their baby (Andy makes some sort of inappropriate comment about their baby having a “sex” but both April and the doctor ignores him) and she tells him that yes, they want to know.

 

She still can´t get over how strange it feels to have the wand dragged over her stomach and how cold the gel is. She thinks she´s prepared but then her hormones rage and she stars crying again the moment she hears the steady _thud, thud, thud_ of their baby´s heart. Andy´s kind of used to her mood swings by now and just takes her hand, hoping she won´t push him away this time. She catches his eyes and smiles a little through tears as she gives his hand a squeeze.

 

“It looks like…” Dr. Saperstein´s still searching, moving the wand back and forth on her stomach and April kind of hates him a little bit more. “It looks like a boy!”

 

“Ha!” Andy exclaims and high fives her with the hand that´s not intertwined with hers already. “That´s awesomesauce!”

 

April laughs and she is just really, really happy.

 

 

…

 

 

She doesn´t think much of it the first time she feels the baby move. It´s just small flutters that feels kind of like someone´s tickling her insides and that´s really weird.

 

She doesn´t tell Andy at first because she doesn´t actually know what it is but when she does, Andy places a hand on her stomach. They sit in silence for a while and he looks like he´s so concentrated on trying to feel it too. He´s disappointed when after a while he still doesn´t.

 

April leans her head on his shoulder and tells him that it´s okay and that he´ll feel it once the baby´s bigger. He seems to accept it and they spend the night watching some stupid movie and April falls asleep on his chest on the couch.

 

 

…

 

 

Andy can´t stop laughing at her when she starts waddling when she walks. She curses how huge she is and she yells at Andy more than she ever has before. He can´t do anything right anymore. Whatever he does, he´s either being too sweet causing her to cry, or he´s being an idiot and makes her scream at him until she´s too tired and just want to go to sleep.

 

Another thing that she seriously dislikes is that, as her belly grows bigger, she cannot seem to fall asleep unless Andy´s lying next to her. At first Andy complains that he´s forced to go to bed early when she does, but then later he just seems to accept and obeys without her having to glare at him.

 

 

…

 

 

The nursery is barely even started on when she´s eight months along. She keeps telling Andy that they really need to finish it soon but he can´t for the life of him figure out how to put the crib and other furniture together and April´s always too tired.

 

By the time she goes into labor the nursery only has a crib and the baby´s clothes are still in original package along the wall of the room. Yeah, they are totally going to screw this kid up.

 

 

…

 

 

Labor is the worst thing that she has ever gone through and she knows that by the time she´s told that she can push, she´s called Andy some obscene names several times. He doesn´t seem to take it personal, for which she is glad, and he keeps on encouraging her that she can do this.

 

She doesn´t understand much of the medical language and the things the doctor´s say, but all she wants to know is when this hell will be over and their evil spawn will finally be out of her. That is exactly what she yells at Dr. Saperstein and a few other nurses during contractions.

 

It seems to take forever and she feels like she can´t catch a break but then suddenly, April´s not the only one screaming anymore. One scream quickly dissolves into a relieved laughter while the other one, the smaller one, keeps wailing.

 

“We have a boy!” the nurse says excitedly and places that small wrinkly mess that´s supposed to be her son on April´s stomach. She can´t do anything but stare at the small purple creature in something that´s a mix between awe and disgust, because, really, that thing just came out of her vagina.

 

The baby miraculously quiets down very soon after April places a hand on his back and caresses the soft skin that’s still covered in blood and goo. She knows that Andy is by her side, she can feel it when he places a kiss on her forehead and hear his excited words but her eyes are focused on her son and she can´t look away.

 

She cannot get over the fact that she and Andy really created the small human being who´s resting on her chest as if what he´s just been through is as horrifying and traumatizing as what she just experienced.

 

 

…

 

 

Once he is cleaned up and looks a little more like what she thinks a baby is supposed to look like, her son is once again placed in her arms. She´s still sore and uncomfortable but at least she´s dressed in an ugly hospital gown and no longer has people staring at her privates.

 

She doesn´t really understand how some people say they can see who the baby looks like already because, to her, he still looks wrinkled and his skin is a bright and angry pink. He´s perfect.

 

She looks up to find Andy staring at her with an expression that she can´t recognize. His eyes keep shifting from her face to their son´s.

 

“Andy?” she asks, the words sounding louder than the small whisper they are as they pierce the silence.

 

“Huh?” he seems startled, as if she just pulled him back from a completely different place and she smiles a little.

 

“Do you want to hold him?”

 

Andy is hesitant for a moment, almost as if he is too scared to get any closer to her than the ten feet he is now. He starts to shake his head but then stops.

 

His voice is almost sheepish when he finally replies: “Yes.”

 

He takes a moment before he steps closer and when the baby is safely placed in his arms, his hands supporting the tiny body in the places April guides him, Andy looks up at her with a grin that makes her heart swell. She falls in love with him all over again in that moment.

 

 

…

 

 

“Hey April?” he asks from his place in the chair by the bed. He is still holding their son and won´t put him down even though April tells him that he can put him in the bassinet if he wants.

 

April reacts with a small start as she nearly slipped into a slumber, exhausted from the day´s activities.

 

“Can we still name him Jack?” Andy´s eyes are nearly begging as if he expects this to be some sort of huge sacrifice for April, when in reality, she can´t imagine their son as anything else than a Jack.

 

She just smiles weakly and nods. “Jack Maxwell Dwyer,” she murmurs softly.

 

“Maxwell…” he repeats and then a moment later he exclaims: “That´s my name too!”

 

She had almost forgotten his childish ways and she can´t help but smile with her eyes still closed when he reminds her.

 

She has almost fallen asleep again when she gets a thought.

 

“Can we still tell the others that his name is Wolfgang Otto? I want to see what Leslie will do.”

 

 

…

 

 

The nurse comes in and tells them that there are people who want to see them just minutes after Visitor Hours start the following day. Andy and April look at each other and shrugs, knowing there´s no way out. Leslie will sooner kick down doors before she goes home without seeing them first.

 

Leslie is way too eager when she enters the room. She nearly tackles Andy with a hug before turning to hug April too. Thankfully, April´s holding Jack and uses him as an excuse.

 

Leslie´s demeanor changes immediately as soon as she sees the infant and she starts cooing as she leans over to see better. It´s a little too close for April but she decides not to say anything for this one time.

 

“Can I hold him?” Leslie is nearly pouting as she asks and April just nods and places her small son in her arms. She bounces him up and down a little before looking at April and Andy again.

 

“You guys…” her voice sounds emotional. “He is beautiful. What´s his name?”

 

This is the moment that April has been waiting for and she shares a smile with Andy before replying.

 

“Wolfgang Otto Dwyer,” she announces and keeps her face straight. She is satisfied when she watches Leslie widen her eyes and stare dumbfounded between Andy and April and their son.

 

“That´s…that´s a…um…you could…yeah…um…” she stumbles and Andy just grins.

 

“Ha! We´re kidding! His name is Jack!” he exclaims and Leslie breathes a sigh of relief.

 

“Thank god!”

 

 

…

 

 

April is exhausted when they return home two days after Jack is born. She holds the baby close to her chest as Andy opens doors for her and she gives him a small, tired smile in response. She is about to just go into the bedroom when Andy stops her.

 

“Shouldn´t you like put him in the nursery or something?” he asks and somehow she just knows that he is hiding something. He scratches the back of his head.

 

“I guess,” she shrugs and decides to play along to see whatever it is that Andy´s talking about.  

 

The nursery looks nothing like it did when they left for the hospital. There´s a rocking chair, a changing table, a mobile over the crib and it´s enough to bring tears to her eyes.

 

“When…who…how?” she stumbles for a moment and then seems to realize. “Leslie?” she asks and Andy nods with a grin.

 

“I kinda told her that the nursery wasn´t finished and then she went all Leslie and did this.”

 

April doesn´t have any answers so she just leans into Andy and stares down at their son. She feels Andy press a kiss into her hair and hold her a little closer.

 

She is 29 and he is 37 and they really are a family now.

 


End file.
